Paint applicator

ABSTRACT

A paint roller, with drip guard for painting ceilings, which includes a two-piece split handle design for the roller secured together by removable fasteners. The drip guard is attached to the respective arms of the roller by slotted lugs and is free turning so as to hang directly beneath the roller when in use. The roller handle is recessed at its lower end to receive an extension handle.

United States Patent Inventor George P. Coughlin 201 N.E. Alki Road, Vancouver, Wash. 98663 Appl, No 834,362 Filed June 18, 1969 Patented July 20, 1971 PAINT APPLICATOR 1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figs.

U.S.Cl l5/230.11, 15/104.8,15/143,15/248,15/257.06,40l/l18 Int. Cl B44d 3/28 Field of Search 15/27, 143,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,562,768 11/1925 Hiatt 15/27 X 2,600,773 6/1952 Hungerford 306/1 2,811,733 11/1957 Sloan 15/230.11 2,984,853 5/1961 Williams 151230.11

- FORElGN PATENTS 1,052,877 3/1959 Germany 15/230.11

Primary ExaminerWalter A. Scheel Assistant ExaminerC. K. Moore AttarneyDaniel P. Chernoff ABSTRACT: A paint roller, with drip guard for painting ceilings, which includes a twopiece split handle design for the roller secured together by removable fasteners. The drip guard is attached to the respective arms of the roller by slotted lugs and is free turning so as to hang directly beneath the roller when in use. The roller handle is recessed at its lower end to receive an extension handle.

PAINT APPLICATOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention is directed to a paint applicator of the rollertype, particularly adapted for.the:painting of ceilings, which includes a drip guard attachment-therefor'as well as a paint dip tray modified for use with thecombined applicator and guard attachment.

In the painting operation it is bothnecessary and desirable that provision be made for ready changing and replacement of the roller core portion of the applicator, as when colors are to be changed or a new core is to be replaced for an old. one, and that such conversion be accomplished with minimum mess and inconvenience to the user. In conventional paint roller applicators, the core portion is secured in rotatable manner to an axial supporting arm or arms by means of. fastener means which are located on or near the roller core axis and in close proximity to the paint-applying surface of the roller. Such conventional roller designs require the: user, when undoing the fasteners so as to release the roller core, to position his hands quite closely to the areas on theiapplicator containing wet paint, and thus it is quite difficult, if not impossible, forthe user to effect the change or replacement of a core without picking up paint on his hands. In other types of prior art paint applicators, the disadvantage of location of a fastenernear the roller core axis is avoided, to sorneextent, by the provision of a spring-action-type roller handle wherein the arm members are resiliently biased together and the user merely presses the arm portions apart in order toremove theroller core from thehandle. However, in this latter type the user, in effecting a change of roller cores, typically must position his hands fairly close to the roller surface in ordertoobtain sufficient leverage to overcome the'spring bias of the. handle arms. Thus, even with the spring-action-type handle-there-is a high risk-of undesirable paint pickup from the proximate-roller surface either by direct contact or from drip of the paint onto the adjacent arm elements. Additionally, the spring-action type-handle.is not wholly satisfactory for the further reason that the resilient arms may be inadvertently'spread apart while the applicator is in use so that the roller core is caused to slip out from thehandle.

In the particular case of painting ceiling surfaces with a roller applicator, it is necessary to avoid paint-dripping off of the roller onto furniture and floor surfaces underneath the area beingpainted. This objective isusually achieved by the. provision of plastic or cloth dropcloths over the areas to be protected; however, the use of dropcloths is not completely satisfactory because they require extensive positioning and:

repositioning so as to fully cover all exposed surfaces, and further the wet drippings may fall directly on the painter or, after falling onto the dropcloth they maystilicome into contact with and adhere to the shoes and:clothing of the painter.

Some prior-art devices have attempted to better overcome the drip problem associated withlthe painting of ceilingsurfaces by providing attachments to the paint applicator positioned underneath the roller so as to catch the paint droppings. One such drip pan deviceis shownin Forte US. Pat. No. 3,319,279, granted May 16,1967, in which a drip pan is mounted beneath the paint roller'and is laterally retractable so as to permit the roller to operate-near the edges of the ceiling. However, the Forte deviceis relatively heavyand'complex and is so arranged that the user must position himself substantially underneath the roller and view its operation through the bottom of the drip pan which, although formed of transparent material, would soon become opaque from paint drippings. Further, there is no provision in prior devices such as Forte to permit the readyremoval-of the drip'panab tachment as when the roller is to be recoated with paint in its dip tray, thus requiring considerable.manipulation and effort to refill the roller from the dip tank without splattering paint on the guard mechanism as well.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The presentinvention is directed to a paint applicator of the roller type which is especially designed for neat and speedy removal and replacment of its rollercore. The roller applicator includes a drip guard attachment of lightweight and economical construction for preventing paint drip and splatter when the applicator isused on ceiling surfaces.

The paint applicator of the present invention overcomes the disadvantages of prior art designs by utilizing a two-piece split handle design for the roller, secured by removablefasteners, which permits the roller core to be readily changed or replaced by the user without the risk of paint pickup. The split handle design for the roller is adapted to permit an extension rod to be readily inserted into the butt end of the handle, when desired.

An improved drip'guard is provided as an accessory which is secured to the arms of the roller by projecting slotted lugs in a free-turning manner, so that, regardless of the inclination of the roller handle, the guard always remains directly undemeaththe roller core during the ceiling painting operation. The drip guard accessory is readily removable, with a minimumof manipulation, when the paint roller is to be recoated with paint in the dip-tray, and in similar manner can be readily reattached to the roller after a freshpaint coating has been applied, all without danger of undesirable paint pickup by the user. The dip trayitself is modified by provision of anoverhanging shelf element onwhich the drip guard attachment may be rested and. the guard removed from the. roller during the paint recoatingl process.

It is therefore a principal objective of the present invention to provide anew and improved paint roller, with'drip guard. accessory, which'is more versatile than conventional paint applicators: heretofore known to the art, and whichpermits the roller core to be removed and replaced, and ceiling surfaces to be painted, with minimum risk of undesirable paint pickup and splatter.

The foregoing and other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon consideration'of the following detailed description of the invention, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing,

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is aperspective viewof an illustrative embodiment'of the paint roller'and drip guard accessory of the present inventron.

FIG. 2 is an exploded, top'plan view of the paint roller.

FIG. 2A is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line 2A-2A in FIG. 2 showin'g'a detail of the roller core portion of the paint roller.

FIG; 2B is an enlarged, exploded view taken along the line 2B--2B.in FIG. 2 showing a detail of the paint roller handle.

FIG. 3 is afront view, partially cut away and partially fragmentary, showing'the construction and operation of thedrip guard accessory for-the paint roller;

FIG. 4is'a' perspective view showing a form of paint dip tray for usewith the dripguard accessory of the present invention.

FIG. 4Ais-areduced cross-sectional view of the dip tray and drip'guard accessory shown =in FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OFTHEPREFERRED'EMBODIMENT Referring nowto the'drawings, there is shown in FIGS. I

and 2a paint rollerformed of a roller handle, designated sponge: or other suitable paint-absorbent material. As shown' in FIG. 2A, the roller is fitted with respective circular'end' pieces I4 provided with central bore openings 15 through whichare fitted with slight clearance'the respective terminal prongs I6aof the handle arm members'l6 fabricated of steel,

aluminum or other suitable resilient material. The prongs end 16a are crimped outward at 16b to form axial stops maintaining the roller core 12 centrally positioned. The respective near ends of the two arm members 16 are bent inward toward each other and terminated in respective handle portions 17 of generally hemifrustoconical design. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 2B, the handle portions [7 are secured together by suitable fastener means such as are provided by a pair of bolts 19a and associated wingnuts 19b. The two-piece handle is provided with a circular recess 21 in its butt end configured to receive the mating end 23 of an extension handle member 25. The thin annular walls 18 of the handle elements 17, as well as the end of the extension member 25, are provided with bore holes, indicated by 26 and 28 respectively, through which the fastener bolts 190 are passed to lock the elements together into a rigid handle assembly. The disassembly of the handle, either to receive the optional extension member 25, or to change the roller core 12, is readily effected by opening the wingnuts 19b to release the fastener bolts 19a Turning now to FIGS. 1 and 3, the drip guard accessory 30 is shown in the shape of a triangular trough formed of sidewalls 33, 34 suspended from the arms 16 of the handle by a pair of slotted overhanging lug elements 32 projecting upwardly from the respective end walls 3] of the trough. The free-tuming action provided by the pivot coupling of the lugs 32 over the terminal ends of the arm members 16 permits the trough to automatically center directly beneath the roller 12 as it is applied to a ceiling surface 10, regardless of the angular inclination of the roller handle. Thus, as the user sweeps the roller back and forth across the ceiling surface 10, the drip trough 30 will remain centered by gravity underneath the roller 12 to collect any falling droplets of paint [3.

As depicted in FIGS. 4 and 4A, a roller dip tray 40 of otherwise conventional design, with a sloping bottom portion 43 supported at its high end by a pair of legs 45 and its lower end merging into a horizontal base portion 46, and enclosed by sidewalls 48, backwall 49 and front wall 50 is modified to have an overhanging shelf or platform 42 projecting out from the backwall 49 of the tray on which the drip guard 30 may be rested on its sidewall 34 while the roller is disengaged from the suspension lugs 32 and a new application of paint is applied to the applicator 12. The projecting shelf 42 is preferably slightly recessed below the upper edge of the backwall 49 of the dip tray 40 so as to provide a backstop 490 against which the apex edge of the drip guard can be braced during disengagement of the roller from the suspension lugs 32.

What I claim is:

l. A paint applicator of the type having a cylindrical paintimpregnable roller rotatably pivotable about its longitudinal axis characterized in that said roller axis is formed by spacedly opposed prong end portions of a pair of rodlike arms whose respective other ends are bent inwardly toward each other and fixed to respective elements of a handle assembly, said handle elements being secured together by releasable fastening means and said handle assembly being of generally frustoconical configuration whose butt end is provided with a recess opening adapted to receive the mating end of an extension handle member securable to said assembly by said fastening means. 

1. A paint applicator of the type having a cylindrical paintimpregnable roller rotataBly pivotable about its longitudinal axis characterized in that said roller axis is formed by spacedly opposed prong end portions of a pair of rodlike arms whose respective other ends are bent inwardly toward each other and fixed to respective elements of a handle assembly, said handle elements being secured together by releasable fastening means and said handle assembly being of generally frustoconical configuration whose butt end is provided with a recess opening adapted to receive the mating end of an extension handle member securable to said assembly by said fastening means. 